Speech That Shines: God’s stars speak the truth in love

Okay, so I’m going to use my mouth today to build up, not tear down. But what if I see things that aren’t right? What if a woman I know is flirting with a married man? What if my niece and “nephew” are living together without marriage? What if my coworker is stealing from the company? What if my friend is cheating on his wife? Should I tell my friends about their teens’ drug use?

God’s stars speak the truth in love--not to puff themselves up, not to feel superior, but to rescue precious human beings from paths of destruction. St. James writes, “My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins” (James 5:19,20).

We are too often silent because we don’t want to “judge.” We are all too aware of our own failings and don’t want to be hypocrites. We don’t want to risk a friendship or risk rejection.

Speak up anyway. As long as your words of correction are drawn from God’s words and come from a loving heart, they can only heal, not destroy. Speak up. If people are saved because of you, they will have an eternity in heaven to get over their irritation.

God's Strength Will Be Shown in My Weakness

When you are stressed, two agendas compete in your heart. One is Satan's. He will try to spin your hardships, especially economic hardships, as proof that God is incompetent. Or weak. Or senile. Or absent. Or dead. Or that he has given up on you, loves you no more and probably never did, and you are left alone to languish in your struggles.

The other agenda is God's. It is a great surprise as you grow in your Christian faith to discover that God gets his loving and saving plans accomplished not only by giving us things but also by taking things away. He blesses us both with pleasures and with hardships.

St. Paul knew both bounty and privation, and he had learned to see God at work in both scenarios. He had learned to be thankful for his easy days. But he had learned also the value of drawing strength from God when he was empty. "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:10).

When you are empty, you can watch God make a way out of no way. You can watch the miracle of manna, miracle bread, reenacted before you. You can accept his hardships as antimaterialism therapy. You can celebrate his just-in-time providing of everything you need

Speech That Shines: God’s stars manage their anger

It takes no brains to lose your temper. It is so easy to go off on someone else, even someone you work with or live with, even someone you love. Angry words cut. They destroy love, destroy trust, destroy joy. Once out, they are like toothpaste--impossible to get back in. They live forever in people’s memories and come back to haunt you over and over.

How do you find your temper again once you’ve lost it? Here are St. James’ words of counsel for tongue use: “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires” (James 1:19,20).

You can’t unspeak angry words. What you as a Christian star can do is acknowledge responsibility for your previous temper outbursts, ask for forgiveness, and grow in the grace of tongue control. You can rebuke the selfishness in your own heart that thinks that the universe is all about YOU. You can grow in a Christ-like servant mind-set that uses ears a lot and the tongue to build up, not tear down.

Start right now--who around you needs a word of kindness from you today?

Speech That Shines: God’s stars are respectful

Aretha Franklin got it right. “R-E-S-P-E-C-T.” People are starved for respect. That craving leads young men to join gangs, pack weapons, and pick fights. That craving leads young women to obsess over beauty and peddle their bodies for attention.

Here is a better path toward self-respect: “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought” (Romans 12:3). And another: “In humility consider others better than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3).

Why is this so hard? It’s because each of us struggles so much with self-hatred and depression that we can’t give props to other people without seeming to make ourselves smaller by doing so. But listen to this: through our Savior Jesus, God now looks at us with affection, approval, and admiration. Let those waves of mercy and goodness wash over you. Then let them flow from you to bless other people.

The more you respect other people, the bigger you will get. Think I’m kidding? Shock people and try it.

An Attitude That Shines: God’s stars are hopeful

People hope for all kinds of things--championships for their favorite sports teams, a huge lottery win, a big promotion, great weather, and rising stock prices. Sometimes those things happen. Often they do not. Our hoping for them does nothing to make them happen.

God invites his all-star team to be hopeful. That doesn’t mean to wish on a star. It means to be utterly convinced that our future will be better than the past. It means that we can be optimists, since God lives in our future already and is making things better for us right now.

Here’s his promise to you: “A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all” (Psalm 34:19). Here’s the beauty of it--it’s not our doing. It’s God’s. We can bear anything because we know everything in our lives will get better in the future. We hope that. We know that.

An Attitude That Shines: God’s stars are grateful

“I knew it! I always pick the slowest line! I’m always the last chosen. If only I were making just N10k more! I can’t ever seem to get a break.”

Ever catch yourself indulging in that kind of self-pitying, bitter talk? Satan is trying to poison your mind by suggesting to you that you’re on your own, that nothing ever goes right, and that you are destined to be a loser. He wants you to feel cheated, convinced that God is disengaged from your life.

In fact, if you take a careful look around, you will see that your life has been filled with blessings from God. Blessings are God’s interventions in your life to make it better. Your friends, education, government, rainfall, food, and family are all gifts. They are signs that God loves you!

The antidote for self-pity and bitterness? How about St. Paul’s prescription: “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Thankful stars figure out cause and effect in their lives. They look at their happy moments and notice more and more the fingerprints of God all over them.

An Attitude That Shines: God’s stars think of others first

Every time I gas up my car, I get a little reminder of my sinful nature. Above the pumps it reads, “Self Serve.” I love serving myself. I am endlessly fascinated by my own interests, appetites, and ideas. I love it when people do things for me. May I be frank? My agenda seems just so much more compelling to me than yours.

God’s all-stars, though, do a 180°. Jesus said that he himself did not come to be served but to serve. St. Paul learned the joy of denying self and serving people, and he wrote, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3).

You can start by practicing on the people you live with. You can shine your star-faith by listening to their stories, sharing some of their pain, and looking for things to praise. And then God’s magic kicks in--you start feeling better about yourself. The very best therapy for depression is to do things to make someone else’s life better.

You believe me? Call my bluff. Try it for a week.

An Attitude That Shines: God’s stars appreciate diversity

The same Lord who made every snowflake in a blizzard different clearly enjoys that same diversity among the people he created. And yet the evil one has great success in using our human differences as wedges to drive us apart. Men and women clash; rich and poor fear and resent each other’s behaviors; people who can’t speak one another’s languages can’t understand and so don’t listen; race and class provide endless opportunities for judgmental bigotry.

But you can shine like a star. “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God” (Romans 15:7). If God cared enough to bridge the huge gap between his holiness and our lowliness, surely we can overcome gaps of mere gender, language, skin color, and income.

Christians have much to learn--after all, over the centuries how many thousands of Christians were slaveholders or Nazis? What resentments still lurk in your heart? Perhaps you have room to grow in the grace of acceptance. Shine!

No Need To Worry

What if? What if? Have you ever dealt with the what-ifs? Entertaining the what-ifs in your life is the first step to being overtaken with worry.

Worry is taking responsibility for things you were never intended to handle. Worry is a lack of trust in the Creator of the universe. Worry says that you can handle it when many times you simply cannot.

Are you worried that you worry too much? You don't defeat worry by worrying about it. You defeat worry by redirecting your concerns to Someone who can actually do something about your situation. It does not mean that you do not take responsibility for the things you are supposed to handle; it just means that you know when you stop and God begins. Worried you don't know enough about it?

Check out what the Bible says!
Proverbs 12:25
Matthew 6:26
Philippians 4:6-7
2 Timothy 1:27
Romans 8:28
Isaiah 26:3-4
Matthew 6:33-34

Still Worry? Read Philippians 4:6-7

Don't worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart. And God's peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.

An Attitude That Shines: God’s stars trust their Creator

“What--me worry?” For many years the An Attitude That Shines: God’s stars trust their Creator goofy, gap-toothed mascot of "Mad" magazine always had that slogan underneath his picture. We wish. The reality is that you know people who worry a lot. Maybe the chief worrier in your life is you. It’s one thing to be concerned about the future. It’s another to worry. Worry is fear, fear that you’ve been abandoned, fear that everything is unraveling, fear that God’s throne is empty and his angels are gone.

God’s stars shine with confident light in their world. And you know what? The brightest light comes from the testimony of Christians who have suffered, but who still exude confidence. The Lord Jesus himself was sorely tempted at times to feel abandoned and alone, and yet he comforted his disciples with these promises: “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. . . . Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:25,27).

Trusting God means that I am convinced that God’s heart loves me, that his mind has good plans and a good outcome set up for me, and that his hands can reach right into my life to make good things happen for me. I’ll be okay. You will be too.

Read: Matthew 6:25, 27